Vidisha, Sep 8 (IANS) A new cancer day-care facility was inaugurated at the government medical college in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha on Tuesday, marking the first phase of a larger plan to provide advanced cancer treatment closer to patients in the state’s smaller cities and surrounding districts.
Union Agriculture Minister and Vidisha MP Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who inaugurated the facility along with Minister of State Jitendra Singh, said the initiative would help patients avoid repeated trips to major cities such as Mumbai and Delhi for treatment.
“Cancer does not affect only the patient; it causes financial and mental distress to the entire family. When patients have to travel to Mumbai or Delhi for treatment, the cost of travel and accommodation itself can run into lakhs of rupees,” Chouhan said.
The facility at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College has been developed with technical support from Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), with an MoU also signed between the medical college and AIIMS Bhopal.
The centre will provide chemotherapy, diagnostics and specialist consultation, while serious cases will be linked to AIIMS Bhopal for further treatment.
The initiative is also being expanded into a comprehensive cancer-care programme.
Minister of State Jitendra Singh said a radiotherapy facility with a Linear Accelerator is expected to become operational at the medical college within two to three years.
He added that two doctors and seven nursing officers from Vidisha had already undergone specialised oncology training at Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Mumbai.
Surgeons and other surgical staff will also receive advanced training in oncology procedures.
A regional cancer registry and a local data centre are planned to help generate reliable data on the cancer burden in the area and support prevention and treatment strategies.
The cancer-care programme began with a gap analysis conducted by a multidisciplinary TMC team in June, followed by a screening and awareness camp.
According to the Department of Atomic Energy, 586 cancer patients and 254 suspected cases were identified during the screening programme.
The proposed expansion will cover medical and surgical oncology, radiotherapy, pathology, early detection, prevention, cancer registration and palliative care.
“Getting cancer treatment in Vidisha itself will be a major relief for patients and their families. Our effort is to ensure that people do not have to travel to big cities for every stage of treatment,” Chouhan said.
Minister of State Jitendra Singh said the Vidisha initiative was part of a wider national effort to take specialised cancer-care facilities beyond major metropolitan centres through the Department of Atomic Energy and TMC.
The programme was attended by Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla, doctors, medical college officials and representatives of TMC and AIIMS Bhopal.
–IANS
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